Atheist Nexus2015-03-03T20:51:06Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagnerhttp://api.ning.com/files/BEQaAk2nQSJxM-ih7na6tD8Nd19MnZdiFZlnlxczPyBH1Wemx-C-8dMnNoHep4NOXJQf1pe86qhiwGlGa9wcQKyo-A*u3IRN/183714.jpg?width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/originsuniverselifehumankindanddarwin/forum/topic/listForContributor?user=3ucx769gqgv1m&feed=yes&xn_auth=nomicroscopy images of ultra-small bacteriatag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-28:2182797:Topic:25770242015-02-28T22:43:04.535Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p></p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0 3px 0;"><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/%7E3/n1P2lG5rWEM/150227181339.htm?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email" name="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">First detailed microscopy evidence of bacteria at the lower size limit of life…</a></p>
<p></p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0 3px 0;"><a name="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/%7E3/n1P2lG5rWEM/150227181339.htm?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email">First detailed microscopy evidence of bacteria at the lower size limit of life</a></p>
<p style="font-size: 13px; color: #555; margin: 9px 0 3px 0; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif; line-height: 140%;"><span>Posted:</span> 27 Feb 2015 03:13 PM PST</p>
<p>Scientists have captured the first detailed microscopy images of ultra-small bacteria that are believed to be about as small as life can get. The existence of ultra-small bacteria has been debated for two decades, but there hasn't been a comprehensive electron microscopy and DNA-based description of the microbes until now. The cells have an average volume of 0.009 cubic microns (one micron is one millionth of a meter). About 150 of these bacteria could fit inside an Escherichia coli cell and more than 150,000 cells could fit onto the tip of a human hair.</p> Hawking on Aggression, Empathy and Space Traveltag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-23:2182797:Topic:25748302015-02-23T20:18:42.169Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>In response to a recent question by a person who was his guest of honor as the result of having won an international contest Stephen Hawking said the failing of humankind that he would most like to correct is aggression, the quality of humankind that he would most like to magnify is empathy and that space travel must be used to ensure the long-term survival of humankind through the colonization of other planets. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>The human failing I would most like to…</em></p>
<p>In response to a recent question by a person who was his guest of honor as the result of having won an international contest Stephen Hawking said the failing of humankind that he would most like to correct is aggression, the quality of humankind that he would most like to magnify is empathy and that space travel must be used to ensure the long-term survival of humankind through the colonization of other planets. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression,” said Hawking....Perhaps unsurprisingly, he focused on nuclear war being the trigger that “would be the end of civilization, and maybe the end of the human race.”....In an effort to counter human aggression, the 73-year-old said the quality he’d like to magnify is empathy, as “it brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.”....“I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be space and that it represents an important life insurance for our future survival, as it could prevent the disappearance of humanity by colonizing other planets,” he said.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/space/hawking-our-aggression-will-destroy-humanity-150223.htm">http://news.discovery.com/space/hawking-our-aggression-will-destroy-humanity-150223.htm</a></p> Neanderthal Division of Labor by Sexestag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-21:2182797:Topic:25737022015-02-21T03:52:41.504Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/snrc-ngb021815.php" target="_blank">Eurekalert.org</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>It's amazing what can be learned from fossils, skeletons, bones, teeth, artifacts.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>"It is still unclear which activities corresponded to women and which ones to men...women may have been responsible for the preparation of furs and the elaboration of garments... retouching of the edges of stone tools seems to have been a male…</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/snrc-ngb021815.php" target="_blank">Eurekalert.org</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>It's amazing what can be learned from fossils, skeletons, bones, teeth, artifacts.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>"It is still unclear which activities corresponded to women and which ones to men...women may have been responsible for the preparation of furs and the elaboration of garments... retouching of the edges of stone tools seems to have been a male task.</em></p>
<p><em>...specialization of labor by sex of the individuals was probably limited to a few tasks, as it is possible that both men and women participated equally in the hunting of big animals".</em></p>
<p><em>...</em></p>
<p><em>We have moved from thinking of</em> [Neanderthal people] <em>as little evolved beings, to know that they took care of the sick persons, buried their deceased, ate seafood, and even had different physical features than expected: there were redhead individuals, and with light skin and eyes. So far, we thought that the sexual division of labor was typical of sapiens societies, but apparently that's not true"</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>Since most of us have DNA from Neanderthal ancestors, this information tells us about a side of our own history, and well as the history of a hominid offshoot. </p> 6000 Year Old Valentines Found in Greek Cavetag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-15:2182797:Topic:25713862015-02-15T00:19:44.893Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>6000 year old skeletons of a man and a woman have been found in a romantic embrace in a Greek cave. Evidently, romantic feelings go back a long way. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>A 6,000-year-old romance has been uncovered in a Greek cave as archaeologists unearthed the skeletons of an undisturbed Neolithic couple locked in an embrace...The grave also contained broken arrowheads. Although the pair was originally found in 2014 by a team of archaeologists and speleologists led by George…</em></p>
<p>6000 year old skeletons of a man and a woman have been found in a romantic embrace in a Greek cave. Evidently, romantic feelings go back a long way. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>A 6,000-year-old romance has been uncovered in a Greek cave as archaeologists unearthed the skeletons of an undisturbed Neolithic couple locked in an embrace...The grave also contained broken arrowheads. Although the pair was originally found in 2014 by a team of archaeologists and speleologists led by George Papathanassopoulos, the Greek Ministry of Culture announced the results of DNA and radio carbon tests on Thursday, just in time for Valentine’s Day.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/skeletons-locked-in-6000-year-old-embrace-found-in-cave-150213.htm">http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/skeletons-locked-in-6000-year-old-embrace-found-in-cave-150213.htm</a></p> Quantum Entanglement.tag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-10:2182797:Topic:25660572015-02-10T17:10:06.199Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>Question, more than a view point from my end. </p>
<p></p>
<p>How does quantum entanglement, affect natural selection, using the existence of a multiverse as a proven fact, as the basis for your view point. Just looking for applicable hypothesis.</p>
<p></p>
<p>and, go....</p>
<p>Question, more than a view point from my end. </p>
<p></p>
<p>How does quantum entanglement, affect natural selection, using the existence of a multiverse as a proven fact, as the basis for your view point. Just looking for applicable hypothesis.</p>
<p></p>
<p>and, go....</p> People of All Languages Use More Happy Wordstag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-10:2182797:Topic:25656732015-02-10T01:58:15.700Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>A new study involving billions of words from ten major languages confirms the much debated 1969 Pollyanna Hypothesis that humans tend to look on and talk about the bright side of life. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>To deeply explore this Pollyanna possibility, the team of scientists at UVM's Computational Story Lab -- with support from the National Science Foundation and The MITRE Corporation -- gathered billions of words from around the world using twenty-four types of sources…</em></p>
<p>A new study involving billions of words from ten major languages confirms the much debated 1969 Pollyanna Hypothesis that humans tend to look on and talk about the bright side of life. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>To deeply explore this Pollyanna possibility, the team of scientists at UVM's Computational Story Lab -- with support from the National Science Foundation and The MITRE Corporation -- gathered billions of words from around the world using twenty-four types of sources including books, news outlets, social media, websites, television and movie subtitles, and music lyrics. For example, "we collected roughly one hundred billion words written in tweets," says UVM mathematician Chris Danforth who co-led the new research. From these sources, the team then identified about ten thousand of the most frequently used words in each of ten languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Chinese (simplified), Russian, Indonesian and Arabic. Next, they paid native speakers to rate all these frequently-used words on a nine-point scale from a deeply frowning face to a broadly smiling one. From these native speakers, they gathered five million individual human scores of the words. Averaging these, in English for example, "laughter" rated 8.50, "food" 7.44, "truck" 5.48, "the" 4.98, "greed" 3.06 and "terrorist" 1.30.....all twenty-four sources of words that they analyzed skewed above the neutral score of five on their one-to-nine scale -- regardless of the language. In every language, neutral words like "the" scored just where you would expect: in the middle, near five. And when the team translated words between languages and then back again they found that "the estimated emotional content of words is consistent between languages." In all cases, the scientists found "a usage-invariant positivity bias," as they write in the study. In other words, by looking at the words people actually use most often they found that, on average, we -- humanity -- "use more happy words than sad words," Danforth says.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>The study appears in the 2-9-15 online edition of the journal, <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150209161143.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150209161143.htm</a> </p> Immune System Reverses Alzheimer's in Micetag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-06:2182797:Topic:25641922015-02-06T16:36:51.184Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>Alzheimer's is caused by a buildup of plaque in the brain called beta-amyloid. In those having Alzheimer's the immune system has been unable to clear this plaque from the brain because of the existence of a substance called interleukin-10. By blocking the effects of interleukin-10 in Alzheimer's afflicted mice scientists from USC provided for the immune systems of the mice to clear the beta-amyloid plaque from their brains. The result was a reversal of Alzheimer's disease in the mice. Per…</p>
<p>Alzheimer's is caused by a buildup of plaque in the brain called beta-amyloid. In those having Alzheimer's the immune system has been unable to clear this plaque from the brain because of the existence of a substance called interleukin-10. By blocking the effects of interleukin-10 in Alzheimer's afflicted mice scientists from USC provided for the immune systems of the mice to clear the beta-amyloid plaque from their brains. The result was a reversal of Alzheimer's disease in the mice. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>....In the Neuron study, Town and his team used genetically modified mice to show that blocking a substance called interleukin-10 activates an immune response to clear the brain of the beta-amyloid plaques to restore memory loss and brain cell damage. Alzheimer's-afflicted mice in which the immune cells were activated behaved more like mice without the disease in various learning and memory tests....</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>The study appears in the Feb. 4, 2015 edition of the peer-reviewed scientific journal, <em>Neuron</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150205095231.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150205095231.htm</a></p> This microorganism hasn't evolved in 2 billion years.tag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-06:2182797:Topic:25643642015-02-06T02:34:27.152Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>That's a even slower rate of change than the town where I grew up!</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/04/the-mysterious-and-unchanging-2-billion-year-old-creature-that-would-make-darwin-smile/" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"<em>The web-like clusters of filament-shaped microbes first appeared in a 2.3 billion-year-old chunk of fossilized mud from Western Australia... also spotted in a second, 1.8 billion-year-old Australian…</em></p>
<p>That's a even slower rate of change than the town where I grew up!</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/04/the-mysterious-and-unchanging-2-billion-year-old-creature-that-would-make-darwin-smile/" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"<em>The web-like clusters of filament-shaped microbes first appeared in a 2.3 billion-year-old chunk of fossilized mud from Western Australia... also spotted in a second, 1.8 billion-year-old Australian rock — and in modern deep-sea environments off the coasts of Chile and Southern Africa...almost identical to what we see in the ocean now</em>,”</p>
<p></p>
<p>I really enjoy the living fossils. These are older than most. <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/cycadophyta/cycadfr.html" target="_blank">Cycads</a> (300 million years), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo_biloba" target="_blank">ginkgos</a> (270 million years), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasequoia" target="_blank">Metasequoia</a> (65 million years), <a href="http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2005/feb/feb0509.htm" target="_blank">Monkey puzzle</a> (300 million years), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodilia" target="_blank">crocodiles</a> (85 million years). </p>
<p></p>
<p>But 2.3 billion years? That makes the cycads seem like mere newcomers! The article didn't list the genus and species of the filamentous bacteria. Some sulfur cycling bacteria obtain their energy from the sulfurous expulsions of deep sea volcanic vents, so are not dependent on the sun and photosynthesis for their energy sources. I don't know if that's true for these.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p> Too Much Jogging as Bad as No Exercise at Alltag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-03:2182797:Topic:25626452015-02-03T16:44:20.348Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>A Danish study over a 12 year period indicates that too much jogging is as bad as no exercise at all. Per the article:</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Analysing questionnaires filled out by all the people in the Danish study, scientists concluded the ideal pace was about 5mph (8km/h) and that it was best to jog no more than three times a week or for 2.5 hours in total. People who jogged more intensively - particularly those who jogged more than three times a week or at a pace of more than 7mph - were as…</em></p>
<p>A Danish study over a 12 year period indicates that too much jogging is as bad as no exercise at all. Per the article:</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Analysing questionnaires filled out by all the people in the Danish study, scientists concluded the ideal pace was about 5mph (8km/h) and that it was best to jog no more than three times a week or for 2.5 hours in total. People who jogged more intensively - particularly those who jogged more than three times a week or at a pace of more than 7mph - were as likely to die as those who did no exercise....In their report, they suggest: "Long-term strenuous endurance exercise may induce pathological structural remodelling of the heart and arteries."</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>The findings have been published in the <em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</em>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31095384">http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31095384</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p> New Tattoos Found on Oetzi the Icemantag:www.atheistnexus.org,2015-02-01:2182797:Topic:25518892015-02-01T15:29:55.544Zlinda wagnerhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/lindawagner
<p>Qetzi the Iceman is the name of the 5300 year old mummified remains of a man found in the Italian Alps in 1991. His remains have been under intense scrutiny since their discovery and there has even been a museum dedicated to them (him) in Bolzano, Italy. Most recently new tattoos have been found on him making a total of 61 revealed to date. Some researchers hold that they are evidence of his having been subjected to acupuncture. If so the acupuncture would have predated acupuncture in China…</p>
<p>Qetzi the Iceman is the name of the 5300 year old mummified remains of a man found in the Italian Alps in 1991. His remains have been under intense scrutiny since their discovery and there has even been a museum dedicated to them (him) in Bolzano, Italy. Most recently new tattoos have been found on him making a total of 61 revealed to date. Some researchers hold that they are evidence of his having been subjected to acupuncture. If so the acupuncture would have predated acupuncture in China by 2,000 years. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>New scans have revealed a total of 61 tattoos on the 5,300-year-old mummified body of Ötzi the Iceman, reigniting the debate on whether the inkings were a form of acupuncture that predates the first recorded use of the practice in China by 2,000 years.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/new-tattoos-found-on-otzi-the-iceman-150127.htm">http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/new-tattoos-found-on-otzi-the-iceman-150127.htm</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Related articles:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/living-relatives-of-iceman-mummy-found-131014.htm" rel="nofollow">http://news.discovery.com/history/living-relatives-of-iceman-mummy-...</a></p>
<p></p>
<p><span><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/oetzi-iceman-mummy-blood-120502.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.discovery.com/history/oetzi-iceman-mummy-blood-120502.html</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/iceman-oetzi-eye-injury-111121.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.discovery.com/history/iceman-oetzi-eye-injury-111121.html</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/iceman-oetzi-mummy-discovery-anniversary-110919.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.discovery.com/history/iceman-oetzi-mummy-discovery-anni...</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110623-iceman-mummy-otzi-meal-goat-stomach-science/" rel="nofollow">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110623-iceman-mummy...</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.archaeologiemuseum.it/en/oetzi-the-iceman" rel="nofollow">http://www.archaeologiemuseum.it/en/oetzi-the-iceman</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/otzi-face-reconstruction-110225.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.discovery.com/history/otzi-face-reconstruction-110225.html</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/oetzi-iceman-bad-teeth-110615.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.discovery.com/history/oetzi-iceman-bad-teeth-110615.html</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://iceman.eurac.edu/" rel="nofollow">http://iceman.eurac.edu/</a></p>